Is Shining Mountain Elementary a good school?

Shining Mountain Elementary ranks 761 st of 1168 Washington elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

How many students attend Shining Mountain Elementary?

In the 2022-23 school year, 608 students attended Shining Mountain Elementary.

What is the racial makeup of Shining Mountain Elementary?

Students at Shining Mountain Elementary are 32% White, 25% Hispanic, 19% Two or more races, 11% Pacific Islander, 8% African American, 5% Asian.

What schools do graduates of Shining Mountain Elementary attend?

Students who attend Shining Mountain Elementary usually go on to attend: Middle : Bethel Middle School High : Bethel High School

Shining Mountain Elementary

Summary:

Shining Mountain Elementary is a public elementary school in Spanaway, Washington, serving students from kindergarten to 5th grade as part of the Bethel School District. The school has a diverse student population, with a mix of racial backgrounds that has remained relatively consistent in recent years.

Academically, Shining Mountain Elementary has struggled, with proficiency rates on state assessments generally below the district and state averages. However, the school's Pacific Islander students have consistently performed very well, ranking among the top schools in the state. On the other hand, students in special education and military-connected students have lagged behind at Shining Mountain. The school also has a high percentage of economically disadvantaged students, which may contribute to its lower academic performance compared to nearby schools like Clover Creek Elementary and Katherine G. Johnson Elementary School, which have higher proficiency rates and lower rates of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch.

Despite the challenges, Shining Mountain Elementary has seen a significant increase in per-student spending in recent years, suggesting the district is investing resources to support student learning. The school's strong performance with Pacific Islander students indicates it may have effective strategies in place that could be leveraged to improve outcomes for other student groups. By focusing on areas like math instruction, support for special education and military-connected students, and addressing the needs of economically disadvantaged students, Shining Mountain Elementary may be able to build on its strengths and make progress in improving academic achievement for all its students.

Detail:

Public K-5

21615 38th Ave E
Spanaway, WA 98387-6827

(253) 800-5200

District: Bethel School District

SchoolDigger Rank:
761^st of 1,168 Washington Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $18,560

Students who attend Shining Mountain Elementary usually attend:

Middle:	Bethel Middle School
High:	Bethel High School

Student/teacher ratio: 15.6

Number of students: 608

Racial breakdown:

White:

32.1%

Hispanic:

25.0%

Two or more races:

18.8%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 60.7%

See top rated Washington elementary schools

Compare Shining Mountain Elementary to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Shining Mountain Elementary ranks worse than 65.2% of elementary schools in Washington. It also ranks 14^th among 18 ranked elementary schools in the Bethel School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 34.57. (See more...)

Student Body

Compare Details Student population at Shining Mountain Elementary is diverse. Racial makeup is: White (32.1%), Hispanic (25%), two or more races (18.8%). (See more...)

Compare Details 60.7% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Shining Mountain Elementary is 15.6. 12 elementary schools in the Bethel School District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)

Compare Shining Mountain Elementary employs 38.7 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Shining Mountain Elementary is $18,560. 13 elementary schools in the Bethel School District spend more per student.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Shining Mountain Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Shining Mountain Elementary 761^st of 1168 Washington public elementary schools. (See Shining Mountain Elementary in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Multi-racial students:

English Language Learner students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Male students:

Hispanic students:

Pacific Islander students:

White students:

Bethel School District:

SchoolDigger ranks Bethel School District 141^st of 247 Washington school districts. (See district ranking list.)

Average Parent Rating:

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Rank History for Shining Mountain Elementary

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Rank History for all students at Shining Mountain Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	WA State Percentile
2004	56.84	441^st	1026	57.0%
2005	29.95	764^th	1031	25.9%
2006	33.07	759^th	1051	27.8%
2007	24.38	877^th	1069	18.0%
2008	36.13	729^th	1067	31.7%
2009	25.07	867^th	1072	19.1%
2010	45.13	624^th	1088	42.6%
2011	39.75	710^th	1092	35.0%
2012	41.04	706^th	1097	35.6%
2013	40.36	706^th	1106	36.2%
2015	37.52	694^th	1067	35.0%
2016	23.09	855^th	1053	18.8%
2017	27.39	798^th	1056	24.4%
2018	31.88	739^th	1054	29.9%
2019	30.00	832^nd	1130	26.4%
2021	21.21	869^th	1107	21.5%
2022	33.50	774^th	1169	33.8%
2023	27.42	868^th	1169	25.7%
2024	34.57	761^st	1168	34.8%

See the entire list of Washington Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Shining Mountain Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	39.00	136^th	212	35.8%
2019	35.95	217^th	303	28.4%
2021	15.19	116^th	128	9.4%
2022	38.76	160^th	252	36.5%
2023	32.10	145^th	194	25.3%
2024	63.07	56^th	188	70.2%

See the entire list of Best Washington Elementary Schools for Multi-racial Students!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Shining Mountain Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	WA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2024	31.15	216^th	320	32.5%

See the entire list of Best Washington Elementary Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Shining Mountain Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	WA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2018	20.49	561^st	637	11.9%
2022	23.69	404^th	478	15.5%

See the entire list of Best Washington Elementary Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Shining Mountain Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	39.14	541^st	835	35.2%
2019	43.80	581^st	979	40.7%
2021	32.64	602^nd	854	29.5%
2022	52.67	437^th	1019	57.1%
2023	40.25	622^nd	1013	38.6%
2024	43.90	599^th	1024	41.5%

See the entire list of Best Washington Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Shining Mountain Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	32.82	707^th	1004	29.6%
2019	34.02	754^th	1068	29.4%
2021	19.79	837^th	1008	17.0%
2022	31.14	774^th	1100	29.6%
2023	30.70	773^rd	1094	29.3%
2024	40.20	646^th	1093	40.9%

See the entire list of Best Washington Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Military Connected students at Shining Mountain Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	WA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2019	16.79	47^th	50	6.0%
2022	36.57	38^th	50	24.0%

See the entire list of Best Washington Elementary Schools for Military Connected Students!

Rank History for Male students at Shining Mountain Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	32.87	690^th	999	30.9%
2019	31.65	767^th	1075	28.7%
2021	21.55	828^th	1025	19.2%
2022	35.93	699^th	1113	37.2%
2023	23.55	874^th	1099	20.5%
2024	28.28	802^nd	1099	27.0%

See the entire list of Best Washington Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for African American students at Shining Mountain Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	WA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2019	46.77	54^th	110	50.9%
2022	80.22	10^th	108	90.7%

See the entire list of Best Washington Elementary Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Shining Mountain Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	53.99	224^th	540	58.5%
2019	62.58	219^th	697	68.6%
2021	40.32	270^th	501	46.1%
2022	45.25	347^th	694	50.0%
2023	55.14	266^th	633	58.0%
2024	36.96	436^th	651	33.0%

See the entire list of Best Washington Elementary Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for Pacific Islander students at Shining Mountain Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	WA State Percentile
2022	65.45	1^st	3	66.7%
2023	52.10	1^st	1	0.0%
2024	28.44	3^rd	3	0.0%

See the entire list of Best Washington Elementary Schools for Pacific Islander Students!

Rank History for White students at Shining Mountain Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	WA State Percentile
2018	15.73	751^st	833	9.8%
2019	19.29	890^th	1027	13.3%
2021	14.25	854^th	943	9.4%
2022	30.05	776^th	1031	24.7%
2023	20.13	869^th	1011	14.0%
2024	40.46	624^th	1009	38.2%

See the entire list of Best Washington Elementary Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: Washington Office of Superindentent of Public Instruction, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Data source: Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction

Review counts

All ratings (Avg rating: 4)

100%

Reviews:

by a parent
Sunday, September 25, 2011

Like any school, has positives and negatives but is definitely on the upswing! No Excuses University School! Close Quote

Enrollment information for Shining Mountain Elementary

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	734	40	28	18	5	n/a	n/a	0	825
1989	624	40	32	11	7	n/a	n/a	0	714
1990	528	36	28	17	6	n/a	n/a	0	615
1991	559	43	29	15	12	n/a	n/a	0	658
1992	580	36	35	18	10	n/a	n/a	0	679
1993	540	38	37	25	14	n/a	n/a	0	654
1994	547	40	42	25	11	n/a	n/a	0	665
1995	496	47	52	26	8	n/a	n/a	0	629
1996	496	47	52	26	8	n/a	n/a	0	629
1997	480	61	67	28	8	n/a	n/a	0	644
1998	482	84	66	50	19	n/a	n/a	0	701
1999	490	103	63	42	18	n/a	n/a	0	716
2000	423	102	71	49	19	n/a	n/a	0	664
2001	465	92	66	39	12	n/a	n/a	0	674
2002	473	99	61	46	14	n/a	n/a	0	693
2003	473	99	61	46	14	n/a	n/a	0	693
2004	409	89	67	39	14	n/a	n/a	0	618
2005	473	77	85	48	17	n/a	n/a	0	700
2006	460	77	69	52	20	n/a	n/a	0	678
2007	434	57	71	70	24	n/a	n/a	0	656
2008	405	56	65	97	22	n/a	n/a	0	645
2009	387	55	55	91	15	n/a	n/a	0	603
2010	295	71	54	84	11	n/a	n/a	0	515
2011	280	57	38	65	9	13	13	0	475
2012	283	54	29	60	4	16	24	0	470
2013	298	47	21	85	6	24	57	0	538
2014	294	36	20	121	4	29	87	0	591
2015	323	29	22	149	2	35	97	0	657
2016	301	26	25	176	3	33	115	0	679
2017	323	38	27	191	3	36	128	0	746
2018	315	57	30	206	5	34	145	0	792
2019	303	59	23	204	3	44	151	0	787
2020	296	45	30	213	1	49	135	0	769
2021	241	52	26	194	3	64	135	0	715
2022	220	50	29	152	2	61	119	1	634
2023	195	47	29	152	2	69	114	0	608

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Shining Mountain Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	825	32.0	25.7	0
1989	714	32.0	22.3	n/a
1990	615	29.7	20.7	0
1991	658	28.8	22.8	n/a
1992	679	29.7	22.8	n/a
1993	654	30.2	21.7	n/a
1994	665	30.0	22.2	n/a
1995	629	28.4	22.1	n/a
1996	629	28.4	22.1	n/a
1997	644	29.8	21.6	n/a
1998	701	30.7	22.8	n/a
1999	716	30.1	23.8	n/a
2000	664	30.4	21.8	n/a
2001	674	32.2	20.9	n/a
2002	693	34.1	20.3	38.7
2003	693	34.1	20.3	38.7
2004	618	33.0	18.7	43.4
2005	700	33.3	21.0	40.1
2006	678	36.1	18.8	40.9
2007	656	35.7	18.4	48.5
2008	645	34.6	18.6	50.1
2009	603	34.6	17.4	48.3
2010	515	30.2	17.0	47.4
2011	475	30.0	15.8	31.4
2012	470	27.1	17.3	53.4
2013	538	27.5	19.5	41.1
2014	591	n/a	n/a	54.8
2015	657	47.0	13.9	61
2016	679	40.0	16.9	56.6
2017	746	44.9	16.5	64.9
2018	792	44.7	17.6	55.3
2019	787	46.1	17.0	61.9
2020	769	47.5	16.1	61.9
2021	715	46.0	15.5	56.1
2022	634	41.9	15.1	46.5
2023	608	38.7	15.6	60.7

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Shining Mountain Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	825	32.0	25.7	0
1989	714	32.0	22.3	n/a
1990	615	29.7	20.7	0
1991	658	28.8	22.8	n/a
1992	679	29.7	22.8	n/a
1993	654	30.2	21.7	n/a
1994	665	30.0	22.2	n/a
1995	629	28.4	22.1	n/a
1996	629	28.4	22.1	n/a
1997	644	29.8	21.6	n/a
1998	701	30.7	22.8	n/a
1999	716	30.1	23.8	n/a
2000	664	30.4	21.8	n/a
2001	674	32.2	20.9	n/a
2002	693	34.1	20.3	38.7
2003	693	34.1	20.3	38.7
2004	618	33.0	18.7	43.4
2005	700	33.3	21.0	40.1
2006	678	36.1	18.8	40.9
2007	656	35.7	18.4	48.5
2008	645	34.6	18.6	50.1
2009	603	34.6	17.4	48.3
2010	515	30.2	17.0	47.4
2011	475	30.0	15.8	31.4
2012	470	27.1	17.3	53.4
2013	538	27.5	19.5	41.1
2014	591	n/a	n/a	54.8
2015	657	47.0	13.9	61
2016	679	40.0	16.9	56.6
2017	746	44.9	16.5	64.9
2018	792	44.7	17.6	55.3
2019	787	46.1	17.0	61.9
2020	769	47.5	16.1	61.9
2021	715	46.0	15.5	56.1
2022	634	41.9	15.1	46.5
2023	608	38.7	15.6	60.7

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.

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